IT'S OCTOBER, which means it's basically Christmas. WHAT?! It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating the turn of a new year. I'm looking forward to 2017 but I'm scared as well because I'll be turning 18, which means I'm an adult and I am so not ready to adult. However, I'm super excited for October because I'll be attending the Bath and Cheltenham literature festival – let me know if you're going, I'd love to meet you!
I'm super excited as I'm hoping to meet the following authors:
I'm super excited as I'm hoping to meet the following authors:
- Jonathan Stroud (I LOVE THE LOCKWOOD AND CO BOOKS. They're so gloriously ghostly.)
- Laini freaking Taylor (I've always said if there's one person I could write like, it would be Laini Taylor or Jandy Nelson. Reading her books is like drinking magic, seriously.
- Sarah J. Maas (!!!)
- Chris Hadfield (YES. THE ASTRONAUT. *squeals*)
- Anthony Horowitz (the Alex Rider series is one of my all-time favourites! AH, THE MEMORIES.)
- Holly Bourne/Holly Smale (Two of my favourite contemporary authors!)
I, unfortunately, didn't get much reading done this month as I moved from Gloucestershire to Somerset and I've had a lot of school work (surprise, surprise) so my month has mostly consisted of packing and studying! I LOVE our new house though and we're a fifteen minutes walk from the town which is beautiful. I also love the library (I'll take pictures next time I go) and it's safe to say that I've been raiding it on a daily basis which probably isn't the best idea. I've also been trying to push myself outside my comfort zone as I really want to try to improve my anxiety and do more things independently. I walked with my dad to town which, like I said, is a fifteen-minute walk and I started feeling very panicky (I'm not exactly sure why) but I did it and I was fine, eventually. We also caught the bus back which was SO FUN. I haven't been on a bus since I lived here the first time which was seven years ago and I forgot how fun it is catching a bus. In South Africa, you can't really use public transport as it's not very safe.
As I said before, I'm really excited for October! I've grown to love autumn – crackling fires, sweaters, hot chocolate, the vibrant colours of the falling leaves and creepy books. I'm planning on reading quite scary books this month (not too scary, I do need sleep) as well as books in the fantasy/paranormal genre as October is the perfect month to read books containing vampires, zombies and bloodthirsty mermaids, yes?! As I got so many books out from the library, I'll hopefully be reading all those! I'll probably read others too though because we all know I can't stick to my set TBR pile! OOH I ALMOST FORGOT. My library has a young adult book club that meets once a month which I am SO FREAKING EXCITED about! There's apparently 5 members so far so I can make bookish friends – EEK! We'll be reading Dracula by Bram Stoker which I'm really excited about as I've been wanting to read that forever and I'm glad that I'll finally be getting a chance to read it!
So, onto what I read this month and October's BOOtiful TBR pile!
I LOVED Two Summers by Aimee Friedman! The writing was delectable, I adored the main character and the romance. I really enjoyed Alistair Grim's Odd Aquaticum, the first book was very disappointing but I had a great time reading the second book! I also picked up The Accident Season on whim when I was at the library and I enjoyed the first 100 pages, it was deliciously creepy and I loved the writing but it then it became a book that slots into the magical realism genre and I struggle quite a bit with those kind of books. Especially in The Accident Season...I never knew what was actually happening and it felt like the main character was hallucinating through most of the book. I was also quite disappointed with the ending as I was hoping for a creepier revelation (me wanting creepy?? Who even am I?) so yep. I really liked the characters though and the writing was lavishly lyrical.
I've really been wanting to read The Spooks series but every library I go to never has the first book but my library had the first book (YAY), so I'm super excited to start a new series! I've had the sequel to The Rain for over a year now but I don't have the first book unfortunately, so when I saw it sitting forlornly on the shelf I thought “Why not read it this month?”. Also, it's killer rain, that's a pretty good subject matter for Halloween, right? I also got Red Glove which I'm SO excied about as I loved White Cat! All Holly's other books are available at my library too so I might just go and get them to read this month as I've heard they're sufficiently spooky. I've also been wanting to read The Heist Society since I first heard about it so I'm hoping I enjoy it as I've heard wonderful things about Ally Carter's books!
I'm currently reading The Giver (in celebration of Banned Books Week) and I'm really enjoying it! I've been meaning to read it for years so GO ME for finally getting around to it! I also loaned the first two Lord of the Rings books in celebration of Banned Books Week...I'm not sure if I'll get around to reading them though as I believe I need to read The Hobbit first? I'm also currently reading The Quantum Universe and it's SO GOOD, I've become incredibly fascinated by quantum physics so any book that deals with it makes me happyyyyy. I picked up Gravity's Engines on a whim as I've been wanting to learn more about black holes, I'm not sure if I'll get around to it but fingers crossed! Not pictured: The Idiot's Guide to Quantum Physics – I'm currently reading this and I'm really enjoying it!
- Read more than 1 book a week. 2 would be good, 3 would be even better but I guess I have to be realistic. I do have half-term this month though so...maybe?!
- Follow the Blogilates calendar through (I always seem to lose interest two weeks in but I really want to try to complete the calendar this month!)
- Attend bookish events and try to not get too anxious when I do go
- Apply for a job? I'd quite like to see if I can get a job in a bookstore...fingers crossed!
- Get more involved in the local community. Not exactly sure how yet but I definitely want to get to know people more and explore my new town!
- Start planning my NaNoWriMo...I'll probably finish off the book I started last November and then start editing that!
I have a feeling October is going to be a fantastic, literary month!
What are your plans for October? Are you enjoying autumn/spring so far? Do you like reading creepy books in October and if so, can you recommend me some?! Not too creepy though because...I won't sleep for a year. I don't even think I'm joking!